Bos, a former world track cycling champion in the sprint and keirin, came off the wheel of Australian lead-out man Graeme Brown to beat Cavendish by half a wheel at the finish line and thus claim his first win of 2011.

“It’s great,” said Bos, whose older brother Jan was a speed skater who won Olympic silver in 1998 and 2002.

“The best sprinters in the world are here, and it’s me who’s won. It’s fantastic.”

Cavendish said he had fallen victim to somesign-post confusion in the lead-up to the bunch sprint.

“I didn’t see the sign indicating three kilometers to go, and when I saw we had two kilometers left I was quite far back in the peloton,” said Cavendish.

“When I started the sprint I was way behind the leaders.

“I was feeling good today. But it just goes to show that even when you’ve got great legs they won’t count for anything if you’re badly positioned going into the home straight.”

A three-man breakaway lit up the race in the early stages but Pieter Serry (TVM), Tanel Kangert (Astana) and Mark McNally (An Post-Sean Kelly) were reeled in 10km from the finish line.

Wednesday’s second stage is another sprinter-friendly ride over 139.5km from The Wave Muscat to Al Wutayya.